Halo: Combat Evolved

Written By Joel Perry

Halo is an action/adventure based first person shooter type game, completely revolutionary in this genre as it not only follows story like elements as Half-Life did, but also allows for vehicular combat as Tribes attempted on the PC. Halo is truly the most remarkable game to come out for the Xbox up to this point and will be likened to as Soul Caliber was to the Dreamcast.

Your character, referred to as "The Master Chief" throughout the game, is a cyborg super soldier (which you learn first through interaction with the enemies, as the little grunts often refer to you as "bad cyborg"). Your basic targets in Halo are members of a race known as "The Covenant", a fairly unique looking group of creatures that have various fluorescent color blood, which by the time you get to the end of the game you will have seen more than your fair share of. The game starts off with the vessel you are on being, of course, under attack. You are quickly thawed out from your cryogenic-hybernation chamber and ordered to the bridge, before you are equipped with weapons I might add, where the captain awaits you. Of course before you make it there you will have to weave and dodge your way through combat (thankfully the Covenant has not yet learned of your "threat" to them as they do not auto target you instead of the other marines, at this point) seeing as how the ship is being boarded during this section of the game.

In the first level your only requirements are to A) get to the captain (to get your trusty pistol, one of the best weapons you will have) and to B) get the hell off the ship with the central AI system from the ship’s computer, thereby keeping the Covenant from obtaining the necessary information about the human race to be able to travel to earth and obliterate it. The entire game sort of runs like a bad dream I once had after the first time I watched Aliens.

After removing yourself from the ship (the Pillar of Autumn), you crash on to Halo, which surprise, surprise, is a big freaking ring. The beauty that is Halo, will astound you, for it is the outdoor areas that truly excel in Halo. Every time you end up indoors you will notice that everything is somewhat drab in comparison to Halo, be it in a a vessel, or the interior structure of Halo. Some people complained about the lack of luster when within the confines of walls, but I for one realize that this was done on purpose as Halo was created to appear as close to paradise as is possible. So, by making every other setting drab in comparison it truly makes you happy at certain points in the game to "get back outside."

By allowing for split screen playability Halo increases what you can do including standard death-matches and Capture the Flag (CTF) matches, as well as king of the hill games where the hill may or may not stay under you as you are defending it. This feature also allows for a co-op mode where you and a buddy can work together to beat the single player missions (much easier), and yes this does increase the quantity of fluorescent-blooded baddies that require a good ass stomping.

As far as visual effects are concerned, when you are outdoors, trees really look like trees, the ocean is very realistic, cloud patterns do not look made up, the other marines you run into do not all look the same and have a variety of different accents. IF you are shooting through a tree, leaves will drop out of it and it can deflect bullets as well as provide minimal cover from the enemy. The game also incorporates bump mapping, motion blur, particle effects and environmental mapping. Each level has smaller area "zones" that load during game play much in the same way that the original Half-Life did on the PC, with that real quick "Loading…Done" message appearing on the screen for 3 or 4 seconds. Oh, and for anyone who has played Everquest, yes the enemies will follow you across those zone lines, and yes the stuff they drop will be accessible if you kill them on the other side of the zone line after you cross it.

Sound is also extremely essential in Halo, as it is in any game where one is hunting, or being hunted. Near the beginning of the game the AI-Construct, which you load into your helmet, keeps you in contact with other marines and the pilots of various ships that can assist you. Quite nice for when you are too darn busy blowing stuff up to bother replying to some moron asking for help. But anyway, as I was saying, early on in the game your AI-construct patches into the enemy’s transmissions, which they happen to not be encoding so that you can hear them communicating to each other, in addition to what your men are saying. This of course sounds silly to me and I think that something like an advanced AI-construct would have easily been able to breach any encryption that they could have been using anyway. Not to mention that it would just make you feel better if it was encrypted and she just happened to crack the encryption, for she could put it off as being too easy for on such as the likes of her. Anyway, back to the sound. Halo does incorporate Dolby Digital sound for those who have home theatres, which is very nice for hearing those guys trying to sneak up on you from behind (yes they do try to sneak up on you from in front also). The ambient sounds are unbelievably realistic, as I actually had to go back into the game in order to notice most of them as they just fit right in with the game. There is also the character speech as every character has something to say, be it a marine yelling at an downed enemy to "get up so I can shoot you again" (warning…some enemies will do just that, so take it as foreshadowing when the marines start doing this), or when a marine runs up to a dead enemy and unloads an entire clip into it after which stating "he moved, I swear I saw him move" all the way up to the little grunts yelling "He’s everywhere!!!" or "We’re all gonna die!!" as they run around with their hands up over their heads wailing. I rarely have heard the same phrase from the marines (usually cause they don’t last long) but you will always find a new saying from the Covenant when you least expect it. I have several times had to pause the game cause I was laughing so hard at what they were saying. More important details, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO WHAT OTHER CHARACTERS HAVE TO SAY. They will tell you where to go, like when someone is popping up from behind you, forewarning of something really nasty up ahead. The game will even hint at what you SHOULD be doing, when you are just joy riding around a level. Additionally, the first time you get shot after picking up the AI-construct, she tells you to be careful as "there’s two of you in here now" referring to you and her being within your armor suit. Warning, if you can here the music in the background then prepare for some nasty combat.

The controls are very well thought out for the Xbox controller, and it makes use of every button. Vehicle movement is kind of tricky as it uses that nasty system from Oni where in order to turn you must "look that way", but this is also the way for non vehicle movement and it makes for easy strafe-circle techniques to be used while flying or walking. One of the very first things the system does when you start is give you the choice of "reverse mouse look", so to speak where looking up becomes down on the controller and of course looking down becomes up. However, driving the Wart hog takes some getting used to as not too many people are used to driving a vehicle where turning the wheel makes both the front and the rear tires change direction (equal amounts).

As far as armament, you will need to find a combo that works well for you, as you can only carry two different weapons and there are two different types of grenades available also. This is a more realistic style gameplay than a game where you just happen to have enough belt space to carry 10 or more weapons where each is nearly the size of your own body, ie Duke Nukem or Quake (and the others).

Some levels include search and rescue missions, killing your own captain, doing dirty deeds for your enemies (whoops, slap your own wrist there, cause you gotta undo that after your done doing it…) clearing out enemies so the good guys can show up to attempt to help you (yeah right, more like get slaughtered). Now don’t get me wrong the computer ai for the good guys is not that bad, but I’ll tell you they talk as much as they shoot and they whine more than anything else, well maybe other than hoot and holler at a good kill. I played the game on normal first, after beating it there I went straight to legendary and beat it that way too. The major differences are, more bad guys, they almost always know where you are, they never miss unless you duck behind cover at the last second (and for that they sometimes carry a needler, a homing weapon that hurts when it hits, then they explode doing more damage to you). Lets see…oh yeah, there are more enemies (did I mention that, cause I really mean more, especially the invisible kind, where in some levels it changed from 2 to 7 of them in the same area). And the marines die a whole lot quicker, plus you get a special funny ending.

Lets see, some game quirks. Yes head shots work. You have a rechargeable shield system, where your shield recharges after not sustaining damage for a while, this means get the hell out of the line of fire and duck. Sniper-rifle is your friend, learn to love it (when you can find ammo, which usually only happens if the marine next to you dies…hint hint, oh but be careful because if you out right slaughter a marine, they all come after your ass instead of the enemy). There is more than one group of enemies, and yes they fight each other, so duck and let them duke it out before you show your head. Get into a tank whenever you can, that machine makes you godlike. Plasma grenades are good, they like to cling to things, ceilings, enemies, you, it makes no difference. If you play alone, find a vehicle and let a marine hop in (most vehicles allow for more than one person) your life will be easier. The rocket launcher also can zoom in, and the pistol can too. Aim for the orange spots it really hurts the hunters and makes them easy instead of the hardest creature to kill. Shooting down airborne vehicles tends to cause you to get squashed, please remember to time your killing blow for after it flies past you. Warning, enemies are smart, they will sneak up on you, they will surround you, they will sit there and wait for you to run out of ammo while you are hiding, before coming after your butt. If they are asleep, beat ’em with your weapon so as not to wake others up. If they are asleep they will wake up or be awakened. Moral checks will happen for the little guys so be prepared for them to literally run away when the going gets tough (watch out though, for if you don’t kill them they will come back to haunt you. The shotgun (If you don’t understand, then you will once you find it). Plasma shots will light up a room if it is dark, as will your handy flashlight that comes complete with a rechargeable battery pack!! This game is very story driven, much like a good Sci-Fi novel where you never can truly predict what is coming up. You don’t have to fight, if you can live by running through, be my guest, just remember that you may have to go back that way real soon.

Bad things… Only 2 player Co-op. There are no Bots in Multiplayer so you will have to have friends or go to Gamespy and play online. You can never play as the aliens, and no keyboard and mouse support for future fun. Yes every Xbox you connect to play needs its own copy of Halo. No you cannot run one as a server. You are unable to issue commands to your Marine buddies who follow you like lost puppies in some areas. No one breathes, try loading up a wart hog full of marines and drive them out into the ocean… Enemies can dodge and leap out of the way when you fire or lob grenades at them (note I said enemies, but you however weigh too much to do so).  Last but not least, if you do not own this game and have an Xbox, you may not be a happy Xbox owner. Without this title in your library of games, you just have another console.

Publisher   Microsoft   Developer   Bungie    Platform   X-Box   Player   One to Four Player

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